use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

dash 1 (dăsh)
Share:
v. dashed, dash·ing, dash·es
v.intr.
1. To move with haste; rush: dashed into the room; dashed down the hall.
2. To strike violently; smash: waves dashing on the rocks.
v.tr.
1.
a. To break or smash by striking violently: The ship was dashed upon the rocks.
b. To hurl, knock, or thrust with sudden violence: dashed the cup against the wall.
c. To remove by striking or wiping: dash tears from one's face.
2. To splash; bespatter: dash water on one's face.
3.
a. To write hastily. Often used with off: dashed off a note to the dean.
b. To drink hastily. Often used with down: dashed down a glass of milk.
4.
a. To add an enlivening or altering element to: a speech dashed with humor.
b. To affect by adding another element or ingredient to: ice cream that was dashed with rum.
5.
a. To destroy or wreck: Our hopes were dashed by the news. See Synonyms at blast.
b. To discourage or dispirit: "This discouraging information a little dashed the child" (Charles Dickens).
n.
1. A swift, violent blow or stroke: knocked the books to the floor with an impatient dash of his hand.
2.
a. A splash: threw a dash of water on my face.
b. A small amount of an added ingredient: a dash of sherry.
3. A quick stroke, as with a pencil or brush.
4. A sudden movement; a rush: made a dash for the exit.
5. Sports A footrace, usually less than a quarter-mile long, run at top speed from the outset.
6. A spirited quality in action or style; verve. See Synonyms at vigor.
7. Either of two symbols, an emdash or an endash, used in writing and in printing.
8. In Morse and similar codes, the long sound or signal used in combination with the dot and silent intervals to represent letters or numbers.
9. A dashboard.

[Middle English dashen, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish daske, to beat.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.